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Grimm Up North Is Here: 6-9 October

The Festival of Horror is chilling Manchester for the third year running

Published on October 6th 2011.

MANCHESTER’s Horror, Fantasy and Science-Fiction film festival celebrates its third year with a four-day carnival of special guests, seminars, cast and crew Q&A’s, cutting edge computer gaming, and of course a pulse pounding programme of films.

With new venue partner AMC cinemas offering high performance digital screens and Dolby 5.1, Grimm up North 2011 is going to be the most refined and sumptuously presented incarnation of the festival to date.

Kicking the festival off in suitably shocking style, on Thursday 6 October, the Opening Gala Premiere will be the gripping, gruelling, paranoid thriller RETREAT, starring Thandie Newton, Cillian Murphy and Jamie Bell. Director Carl Tibbits and producer Gary Sinyor are confirmed, Grimm Up North’s newly-appointed Festival Patron Yvette Fielding will be hosting for the evening and we might just be joined by a special celebrity guest or two.

Manch235ter Casino will be hosting the pre drinks and after screening party.

On Friday 7 October, British music and screen icon Martin Kemp will be attending, along with Leading Lady Jane March, actor Billy Murray, and producer Jonathan Sothcott for a special screening of his directorial debut, STALKER, the latest from release from UK independents Black and Blue Productions. Sure to be a controversial festival talking point, the film reworks - and totally re-imagines – infamous mid-seventies sex-and-slasher shocker, and banned “video nasty”, THE HOUSE ON STRAW HILL into a tense psychological thriller about memory, identity and the creative imagination, and features cult horror icon (and star of the original film) Linda Hayden in a supporting role.

Commenting on the film, Producer Jonathan Sothcott said: "Stalker is the slickest, best-directed film we've made to date and a genuinely well-made, creepy horror film in its own right. We feel it is strong enough to stand a theatrical release in selected UK cinemas and we're looking forward to unleashing it on the world.

Also on Friday - the regional premieres of visceral Spanish home invasion thriller KIDNAPPED and claustrophobic German horror URBAN EXPLORER, a rare chance to catch David Cronenberg’s classic film version of Stephen King’s THE DEAD ZONE on the big screen, and the world premiere of full-on Faustian revenge fantasy ADAM CHAPLIN, a new benchmark in demented mayhem and a guaranteed Grindhouse cult hit of tomorrow....

Saturday 8 October, sees the premiere of THE REVEREND, a British Vampire-vigilante Horror with an all-cult-star cast headed by Rutger Hauer, Tamer Hassan, Emily Booth and Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley. Director Neil Jones, as well as members of the cast and crew will be attending.

Saturday also sees the regional premiere of Lucky McGee’sTHE WOMAN, which has been generating huge controversy since its screening at Sundance.

There will be a brace of pitch black comedies in slacker zombie road movie DEADHEADS, from Sam Raimi associates the Pierce Brothers, and the John-Landis-produced charmer SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE, featuring THE OFFICE star Lucy Davis. We are hoping Lucy will be with us for the screening. There’s a slice of extreme Asian cinema in the harrowing REVENGE: A LOVE STORY, cerebral Mexican Science Fiction, in the acclaimed BY DAY & BY NIGHT and a chance to explore the “lost” Halloween film, HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH with our resident expert, Stef Hutchinson.

Sunday 9 October, has the regional premiere of THE WICKER TREE, Robin Hardy’s long-awaited sequel to his legendary cult classic THE WICKER MAN, with a special Q&A with Robin himself following the screening.There’s more cinematic controversy in nihilistic post-apocalyptic shocker THE DIVIDE, the UK premiere of a startling film version of Weird Tales maestro HP Lovecraft’s lunatic epic THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS, African Zombies on the rampage in THE DEAD, and a surreal new spin on the classic portmanteau horror film, THE THEATRE BIZARRE.

There will also be market stalls, exclusive video gaming, events, book signings, competitions in every screening and a reduced price festival bar.